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Riley

English, Irish
"rye clearing; courageous"
Brynn McKeon
By Brynn McKeon
Updated Mon Sep 02 2024

Riley Origin and Meaning

The name Riley is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "rye clearing; courageous".

Riley—an upbeat, friendly surname name—is red hot for girls and still going strong for boys. If you haven't been spending much time around babies recently, you may be surprised to learn that Riley is the most popular girls' name starting with R and also the Number 1 Irish name for girls in the US.

Riley originated as both an English and an Irish surname. The former was derived from British place names that got their names from the Old English words for "rye clearing." Irish Riley is a variation of Reilly, a surname taken from the given name Raghailleach.

Rylee, Ryleigh, and other variations are also quite popular, along with the traditional Reilly. Riley is one of the most popular contemporary unisex baby names, ALWAYS ranking in the Top 1000 for boys but now more popular for girls.

Newsperson Norah O'Donnell has a daughter named Riley Norah.

# 43 in the US

Riley Rank in US Top 1000

# 172 on Nameberry

Riley Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Riley Popularity

Famous People Named Riley

  • (Danielle) Riley KeoughAmerican actress/model, daughter of Lisa Marie Presley; granddaughter of Elvis Presley
  • Riley Elizabeth WestonAmerican actress
  • Riley ReidAmerican adult film actress
  • Riley DeLuise (b. 1993)daughter of actor David DeLuise; granddaughter of actor Dom DeLuise
  • Riley Shannon McCusker (b. 2001)American gymnast
  • Riley Burruss (b. 2002)daughter of reality TV personality Kandi Burruss of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"
  • Riley Claire Bryggman (b. 2003)daughter of actor Larry Bryggman
  • Riley Rose Campbell (b. 2004)daughter of actors Alan Campbell and Lauren Kennedy
  • Coco Riley Arquette (b. 2004)daughter of actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette
  • Riley Collins (b. 2005)daughter of NFL player Kerry Collins
  • Riley Dylan Sullivan (b. 2007)daughter of baseball player Cory Sullivan
  • Riley Norah Tracy (b. 2008)daughter of TV journalist Norah O'Donnell and chef Geoff Tracy
  • Hania Riley Sinclair (b. 2008)daughter of actor Vin Diesel and model Paloma Jimenez
  • Riley Maddox Blais (b. 2008)daughter of Richard Blais of "Top Chef"
  • Riley Elizabeth Dempster (b. 2009)daughter of baseball player Ryan Dempster
  • Riley Barber (b. 2010)daughter of NFL player Tiki Barber; twin of Ella Barber
  • Riley Elizabeth Curry (b. 2012)daughter of basketball player Stephen Curry
  • Riley Grace Vilasuso (b. 2012)daughter of actor Jordi Vilasuso
  • Riley Anne Mesnick (b. 2013)daughter of reality TV personalities Jason and Molly Mesnick of "The Bachelor/ette"
  • Riley Paige Busby (b.2015)one of the Busby Quints on TV's "Outdaughtered"

Riley in Pop Culture

  • Rileycharacter in "Moving in"
  • RileyBritish motor car
  • Riley Daringmain character on TV's "The Replacements"
  • Riley Lawrencecharacter in film "Winning London"
  • Riley Carlsoncharacter on TV's "So Little Time"
  • Riley Parksmain character on TV's "The Client List"
  • Riley Matthewsdaughter of Cory and Topanga Matthews on "Girl Meets World"
  • Riley Perrincharacter on TV's "Baby Daddy"
  • Riley Bluecharacter on the Netflix show "Sense8"
  • Riley Andersencharacter in Disney Pixar's "Inside Out"
  • Riley GrandyGwen's daughter on TV's "The Mindy Project"
  • Riley Marraa character on MTV's "Scream"
  • Rileycharacter on TV's 'The Next Step'
  • Riley Davischaracter on TV's "MacGyver"

Riley in Nameberry Blog Posts